In some business processes, it may be necessary to verify the identity and/or the age of a user, to satisfy legal requirements, for example. In the past, for example, it was usual for the user to prove his identity to a postal employee by presenting his personal ID card to the employee for visual inspection and examination. Then, a document confirming the identity of the user was sent by post. This method is extremely slow for the user, because it is always associated with a visit to a post office. For this reason, this method is also associated with a high rate of early termination.
A method for web-based identification of individuals is known from document DE 10 2009 022 381 A1. In this method, recorded personal data of a user is collected via the web (internet). This data is compared with data from a reference data to identify the user. Then, an authorisation code is sent to the user, who is now able to use the code for authentication purposes. The disadvantage of this is that the user must undergo at least one personal identification before the reference data can be captured. The postal method described in the foregoing may be used to enable personal identification of the user. Accordingly, the user is again obliged to visit a post office at least once.
A method and a system for evaluating documents are disclosed in document US 2003/0139994 A1. A user may insert an ID card or a driving licence in the device. Personal data of the user may be captured from the document inserted by means of text recognition. In this procedure, a signature by the user may be collected from the document compared with another signature to determine whether they match. In this case, the user must use the device, which is installed in a bank, for example.